Keep your ears open-minded with Podcast of Color

May 18, 2017

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Words by Chris Perez

As much as we enjoy watching a bunch of Drag Race queens broadcast their opinions whilst beating their mugs, we believe there’s still a lot of gay ground that needs to be covered in media. As boundless as our rainbow is, there can never be too many LGBTQ+ voices out there. Which is why we’re welcoming four more. Rakeem, John, Baize, and Rene make up Podcast of Color (POC), where these “trashbags of color”—a mix of Black, Hispanic, and Asian (John is Filipino-American) voices—gather ‘round their megaphone to discuss minority-within-a-minority matters.

There are rants about white gay thirst traps; coded talk of crushes during one’s teen years; and moments of silence for fallen trans females. It’s like hanging out with your friends, except that they’ll still be there even when you’re washing the dishes. Clocking in at an hour and a half an episode, the talking points are aplenty—enough for us to narrow down the bits that have perked our ears and opened our minds.

Honey roasting your friends should be a thing (Episode 04)

If a comedy roast involves verbally torching someone for laughs, honey roasting is the opposite. The difference: sweet, sweet empowerment of a chosen individual—something meaningful rather than mean-spirited. At the end of each episode, the guys take turns telling each other why they’re amazing and how inspiring they are. It’s refreshing to hear good things about people, especially for the queer lot of us who’ve spent much of our formative years giving ourselves shit for being different.

Queer mecca or gay capital punishment? (Episode 1)

As queer Filipinos who consume a big chunk of western pop culture, we might have romanticized views of the gay meccas we’ve seen in media, be it the Castro of Looking or the reality show-ready setting of Fire Island. The POC POV about these places might be a little different as the guys share their less-than-stellar experiences in supposedly safe spaces such as West Hollywood.

Thirst entrapment (Episode 3)

Rakeem recounts one Instagram he posted that poked fun at the IG accounts of the beautiful and insta-famous, but which suddenly became ground zero for accusations of slut shaming. John and Baize shared their thoughts on social media and how it boxes our perceptions of the people we follow, not to mention how we need to be aware how we present ourselves online. We definitely need a place to talk about social media in more than 140 characters and beyond the IG square. As people of varying queerness, we have different facets these platforms just can’t capture.

Geeking “out” (Episode 3)

In their “Minutes of Color” segment, the guys talked about the trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. It’s great hearing people of color and queerness geek out over superheroes. We get to look at pop culture in different-tinted lenses. Why couldn’t it be a black Spider-Man this time around? Why not Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino? And with the recent run of dubious casting choices (The Great Wall, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange), why hasn’t Hollywood gone for voices of color and queerness this time around?

Anxieties in finding new faces in new places (Episode 4)

There’s a moment in a gay person’s life after coming out where he/she asks: So what now? In Episode “Serving AnxieTEA,” the guys tackle the itch to find your tribe and how it’ll be okay if you don’t find your peers straight out of the closet. Also: reaching out to strangers to connect for potential friendship is nerve-racking but who knows, lifelong friends can be made in the weirdest of circumstances. Buck up: less AppearancesTM and more authentic you and you’re on your way.

Transcendence (Episode 7)

“I wasn’t confident enough to say I believe that I’m a girl but I did feel confident enough to say I’d like to dress as a girl,”recalls Nia Clark, producer of MTV trans youth doc, Transformation, of a conversation she had with her foster mom-to-be. “‘That’s fine. You can dress however you want as long as it’s in the house. I don’t want you dressin’ that way out in public.'”

With Nia dropping by, the “trash bags” learn about what it’s like being trans in the foster care system and how cisgendered folk can be allies. New episodes every Tuesday. Get on it.

SHOP

About Team

TEAM tackles how gay Filipino men relate their identity, from fuckups to fantasies, to where to go for music you can actually dance to. We may not have proper rights in our country but we’re claiming some authority by getting our words and ideas on page. And though we lack public places to convene, an open publication (and wide-open digital space) is a good place to start.